


Changing Leaves

by FerretShark



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-20 13:44:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21282683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FerretShark/pseuds/FerretShark
Summary: He shuffles to the door and pulls it open to reveal his tormentor.“Hey, Kid.”“Mr-Mr. Stark, uh Tony,” He stammers, his brain desperately trying to catch up. “What are you doing here?” A chill comes over him, “Is something wron-?”“No, no nothing like that.” Tony spreads his hands out with a grin, “It’s Halloween!”
Relationships: Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 6
Kudos: 85





	Changing Leaves

Changing Leaves

Peter was doing his best to sleep in on a Saturday when he’s woken up by an insistent rapping on his apartment door. He tries to pull a pillow over his head, but the steady beat persists. He groans and rolls out of bed.  
  
He shuffles to the door and pulls it open to reveal his tormentor. 

“Hey, Kid.”

“Mr-Mr. Stark, uh Tony,” He stammers, his brain desperately trying to catch up. “What are you doing here?” A chill comes over him, “Is something wron-?”

“No, no nothing like that.” Tony spreads his hands out with a grin, “It’s Halloween!”

“Halloween was Thursday. Today’s Saturday.”

“Yeah, but Boston had a weather delay, right? Because of the…”

“Oh yeah, the wind chill. Ok, but I thought you went Trick or treating wi-with Morgan.”

“I did. You got the pictures, right? Rainbow Pony and Professor Pony. Maybe Dr. Pony?” He waves his hand.

Peter nods, “Yeah, yeah, I got them. I said they were cute.” 

“Well, we had that Halloween and now I’m here, with you. Pepper sends her love.”

“Ok.” Peter blinks and Tony pushes past him into his apartment. 

“Expecting trick-or-treaters?”

Peter follows behind him in his T-shirt and pajama pants. “Yeah, maybe a few.” He scratches his elbow.

“Ok let’s see what we have to work with.” Tony grabs up his plastic candy bowl and inspects the contents. “Kid, seriously? Not to candy shame, but Tootsie Rolls??” He tosses them into the trash bin.

“Hey!” Peter protests.

“Nah-ahah.” Tony stops him with a finger. “Go get showered and dressed. Daylight’s burning.”

“What? What are we doing?” He took in Tony’s three piece suit. “Do I need to dress up?”

“No, we’ll take care of that on the way.” Tony gives him a gentle push. “Go.” 

Peter watches him settle in on the futon and blinks again. Nope not dreaming. He’d better get moving.

It takes him ten minutes to get ready, he rushes out into the living room. Tony claps his hands and rises.

“Great, we have a Halloween to prepare for.”

“That’s in like, ten hours.” Peter comments.

“Yeah we’ve gotta get a move on, where’s Nerd?”

Peter sighs, “His name is Ned. I know you know that. I’ve even heard you say it.”

“Ok fine, Ned, where is he? We need him.”  
  
Peter calls Ned, who isn’t busy and thrilled to be included. The iffy weather had put the kibosh on many a weekend plan. Tony snatches the phone and rattles off instructions and an address that Peter isn’t familiar with, before ending the call and tossing it back.  
  
Peter nearly fumbles the catch but employees his stickiness at the last second.

Tony gives him a look. “You really need to get a case for that.”  
  
“I will, I am!” He protests, following Tony out of the apartment. He pauses to lock the door. “How did you get here anyway?”  
  
“Oh. I drove.” They make their way to the parking lot. Peter’s expecting an Audi or some kind of sports car. Instead, there’s a giant U-haul filling four spaces.  
  
“You drove that? What’s in there?”  
  
Tony pats the side. “Just your standard party throwing gear. Oh, and a butt-load of full sized candy bars.” He shoots a censuring look. “Get in the truck, Tootsie.”  
  
“Come on!” Peter objects to the nick name, but he climbs in and they set off.  
  
They don’t get far before Tony is stopping again in front of a Party Capital. 

“Ok, go in there and get yourself the finest Spider suit that fifty bucks will buy.” Tony tosses the bill at him.”

“You want me to buy a costume, when I had three perfectly good suits in the safe back at my apartment?”

Tony blinks, “All three? That speaks of a frankly concerning amount of hyper-vigilance.” His mentor scans his face over his violet tinted sunglasses. “Still seeing your therapist?”  
  
“When I can.” Peter dodges the question by jumping out of the truck.  
  
The costume ends up costing him fifty and change. Luckily he had a crumpled ten in his wallet. 

He clambers back up into the U-haul. “Ok, I got it. What are you going to be?”  
  
Tony just grins and throws them into gear. 

As they drive across town, Peter lets himself enjoy being in Tony’s company again. It’s been a long time since it’d been just the two of them. He’s missed it., The homesickness he thought he’d conquered rears it’s head. He misses all of it, the lab days, the movie nights at the lake with Morgan, the ill-fated fishing and camping trips that had been traded for impromptu engineering workshops. The summer before he’d left for college he’d ping-ponged back and forth between Queens and upstate at the lake house. They’d both felt equally like home.  
  
He remembered one night after dinner with the whole family, Tony had walked outside with him. “I know you’re worried about going off to college, Underoos. But, really, this whole hero-ing gig? It can wait. Go to school, have fun. Go to class. Play baseball on the quad with an umbrella and apples you stole from the dining hall…”  
  
“That’s awfully, specific.” Peter points out.  
  
Tony huffs. “My point is, get out there. Enjoy yourself a little bit. Work hard, but play hard. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Well not BIG mistakes. ‘No glove, no love’ and all that jazz.”  
  
“Noo, no, stop!” Peter covers his ears like the mature eighteen year old he is.  
  
They’d been so close. They still were. It’s just that things had gotten busy, when had things gotten so busy? He can’t remember.

While he’d been lost in his thoughts, Tony had driven them to a picturesque neighborhood. The homes were older and surrounded by mature foliage. The streets are dusted with leaves in every color. They swirl in the breeze, painting the yards in vibrant yellows, oranges and reds.  
  
They pull up to a white house with lots of windows. Tony parks in the driveway.  
  
“Who lives here?” Peter wonders.

“No one, someone just recently bought it.”  
  
Peter considers and tries again, “Ok, who owns it?”

“Me.” Tony answers simply and shuts it down. He turns to Peter. “Ready for a little light unpacking?”

The unpacking is not light. The truck is stuffed with candy, two firepits, lawn chairs and lounge chairs, along with tastefully themed Halloween paper goods & decorations and a video game system.  
  
None of it is particularly heavy for Peter, there’s just A LOT of it. He hauls a large flat screen TV into the house. Tony is standing in the center of the living room, turning slowly.  
  
“Are we expecting anyone else?” Peter wonders as he sets it down in the living room  
  
Tony hums absently, making a frame with his fingers as he contemplates the best spot to set up the entertainment system.  
  
“Invite whoever you want, Kid. Party starts at eight, no alcohol, of course. I told Ned to get together some people.” Tony snaps his fingers, “Oh and Rhodey’s on his way down, he just has to finish up a few things in DC. I’m not really sure what time he’ll get here.”  
  
So no help unpacking then, at least now he knew for sure and could stop holding out hope. It takes him another half an hour.  
  
A car pulls up and Ned jumps out breathless. “Hey! I got the pumpkins and picked up the other stuff, Mr Stark.”  
  
“Good man, Mr Leeds.” Toy says approvingly.  
  
Peter grins at his best friend and meets him in the driveway. Ned’s brought lunch and is absolutely beside himself with excitement. “Dude, this is going to be so awesome!”  
  
They spend the rest of the days setting up everything to Tony’s specifications. The “other stuff” Ned had procured turned out to be a fog machine, sound system and orange & purple lights.

They set up one of the firepits out front in the driveway and the other in the back on the stone patio.  
  
The final project is pumpkin carving. Peter does his usual thing. 

“Pumpkin Pi? Really?” Mr. Stark teases fondly. “It’s like the shirts all over again.”

“How is that any better?” Peter complains since Tony had merely carved an Iron Man helmet into his.  
  
Ned and Peter combine their powers for the last one and end up with passable pumpkin Death Star. It’s their pride and joy.  
  
After several pictures, Tony sends them to get their costumes on.  
  
Peter steps downstairs a bit self consciously and when Tony catches sight of him, his expression morphs into one of horror.  
  
“That is...truly terrible. Turn around”  
  
“What? It’s actual spandex, it’s supposed to fit like this.” Peter comments, tugging self consciously at a leg seam.  
  
“This looks nothing like anything I’ve ever designed for you.” Tony gripes, his eyes flicking over the costume.“They didn’t even bother to put the black bands on it. There’s nothing to give the arms any definition.”  
  
Peter ignores that and pulls the mask on, over his curls. “Hi, Mr. Stark,” he chirps  
  
Tony doesn’t acknowledge him and continues listing flaws “The eyes don’t even move. It’s unnatural. How can I even tell what you’re thinking?”

Peter doesn’t move for a second and then takes a sloppy swing at Tony. “I guess you’ll just have to read my body language.”  
  
Tony immediately drops into a defensive stance, bobbing and weaving. “That’s how it is huh? Want to go a few rounds with the old man?”  
  
“Yeah, emphasis on ‘old’”  
  
“There’s the trademark Spidey-sass. I was starting to think you were an imposter.”  
  
They circle each other, air boxing. Peter stops for a second, “You know what would make this way more epic? Lightsabers.”  
  
“You think everything would be more epic with lightsabers.” Tony sighs, dropping his fists.  
  
Ned chooses that moment to make his grand entrance from the second floor. “Neither of you are any match for a Sith Lord!” He descends down the stairs, his black cape billowing behind him.  
  
“Oh my god, you’re Emperor Palpatine? That is wicked, Dude!” Peter can’t stop laughing. “It’s so awesome!” He turns back to Mr. Stark. “Don’t you have a costume?  
  
Tony holds out his hands and smiles cheekily. “You know who I am” He sheds his jacket, and on his hand is one of the cheap plastic gauntlets the sell at most chain stores.

A wave of nostalgia rushes over Peter. “I had one of those when I was a kid.”  
  
“Oh Yeah?” Tony looks at him.  
  
“Yeah, I…”  
  
Just then the doorbell rings. It startles them all into action.  
  
“Get the candy,” Tony orders. “I’ll be right out.”  
  
Peter answers the door, while Ned lurks in the shadows behind him. Two little girls stare up at him. One was dressed as Elsa, but the other is dressed as The Wasp.  
  
“Trick or Treat!” They chorus.  
  
He drops candy bars into their buckets. “Oh wow, cool costumes.”  
  
“Wait, you’re Spider-Man!,” one of them says, the other nodding vigorously in agreement.  
  
“Hey, you recognize me!” He hands Ned the candy and poses with his hands on his hips,  
  
“Yeah!” He lets them give him high fives.  
  
The girls’ mother calls them to hurry up and get a move on to the next house. He watches them scamper down the walkway. “Bye, Spider-Man!”  
  
“Bye!,” he calls after them.  
  
This was going to be fun he decided. Kind of like a form of therapy. It would be nice to have positive interactions with people as Spider-Man without all of the other stressful, not good things, that usually came before. 

Tony reappeared and Peter could see that he’d gone over the edges of his own facial hair with what looked like it could be dark brown eyeliner.  
  
“You look so... so fake.” Peter marvels as Tony sweeps out the door, with a box of candy bars under one arm and hands full of stuff to start a fire in the fire pit with.  
  
“Back at ya, Spider-Guy.”

It had been cold, but it was getting absolutely frigid. Tony gets a roaring fire going and it helps to chase away the chill. As the sun moves through the sky and they get nearer to twilight, streams of kids come racing up the driveway for candy. 

“Look, Honey. It’s Tony Stark.” A man says as they pass by. He uses a tone that let’s Peter know that he in no way believes this is actually the real Tony Stark.  
He can see Tony’s smile deepen with amusement as he waves with his gauntlet. The trick-or-treaters wave back and carry on.  
  
One little boy, dressed as a pirate, is absolutely taken with his spider suit. Peter was just coming back from grabbing more boxes of candy from the house, he deposits them beside Tony and the kid follows along behind him.  
  
“Are you really Spider-Man?” he asks.  
  
“Sometimes, like today,” he allows, crouching down to open and stack the candy. “Are you really a pirate?”  
  
The little boy shakes his head. 

“No?” Peter asks, pretending to be confused.

“Hey, can you do a flip?” the kid wants to know.  
  
Peter shrugs, steps out some and then launches himself backwards in a tight turn, landing on his feet.  
  
“Whoa!!!” The little pirate shouts, impressed. “Do it again!”  
  
This time Peter does a front handspring with a little twist at the end. 

The waiting parents assembled give him a smattering of applause.  
  
“He’s amazing” A father says to Tony.  
  
Peter starts to show off a bit with something more complicated.  
  
“Yep, he’s a gymnast.” Tony lies smoothly. “Well, he was...until the injury.  
  
The parents turn their attention back to him both rapt and horrified.  
  
“What kind of injury” A mom finally ventures to ask.  
  
“Head.” Tony quips and that causes Peter to miss a step.

“Oh god.” He manages to just catch himself and stagger into a crouch. “I’m fine! I’m fine! I’m good!”  
  
Tony’s eyebrows are up in warning. “Better tone it down there...Spider-Man.”

“Ah yeah. I had better do that.” Peter pretends to limp back to his chair and then collapses heavily into it. He can hear Ned snickering beside him.

“Oh man.” His friend gasps and then doubles over laughing again. It makes Peter grin in sympathy. He wasn’t sure what he’d actually had planned for today but this was way better.  
  
“You were one triple lutz from them taking out their phones and starting to record.” Tony grouses as they wait for the next group.  
  
Peter shrugs good-naturedly. “That’s ice skating, Mr Stark.”

“Whatever, Underoos.” Tony snarks back, but there’s no heat to it. 

After 8:30 the trick-or-treaters start to taper off and Tony calls for pizza. At 9:15 several guys from the MIT Engineering School show up and it’s a party.

Somewhere around 9:30 War Machine lands in the backyard. Tony pats Peter on the back and disappears with two cups of soda and an entire pizza. 

As the evening winds down, Peter leaves Ned with the guys to play Call of Duty without him.

He finds Tony outside lounging in front of the fire pit. Colonel Rhodes is in a chair next to him, all covered up in a throw blanket and snoring softly.

Tony smiles when he sees Peter. “Pull up a chair, Kid.”

“Is he, ok?”

“Oh yeah, he’s fine” Tony glances at his sleeping best friend.”He was never much fun at parties.”

“I’ve heard differently.” Peter smirks, then laughs softy at Tony’s look of alarm. He settles in on the other side. 

A companionable silence fills the air. The fire crackles, and the wind stirs the leaves. 

“I’ve missed you, Kiddo.” Tony stares up at the trees. “It all goes by too fast.” 

Peter nods. 

Tony looks at him over the top of his glasses, his face shadowed in the firelight. 

"You still want to know why I came up here?” He whispers sotto voice. “I didn’t want it to be over.”

“What, you just really love Halloween?” Peter wonders aloud.

“Nah.” Tony pushes his sunglasses back up. 

In the silence, Peter runs back over the conversation, the day. He sucks in a breath as understanding hits him. Stupid.

“Um, Tony” He says softy, his voice suddenly thick with emotion “I don’t want it to be over either. Like, not ever.”

A soft smile curls over Tony’s lips,“I’ve missed you too, Pete.”And then he clears his throat. “So we’ll be seeing you for Thanksgiving then?”

“Sure, uh yes. I mean I’ll have to ask May, but yeah.”

“Great, I’ve moved your room, you’ll be bunking across from her and Happy.” 

“Umm, Nope!” 

Tony laughs deep and genuine and it makes Peter grin.

There’s a warmth that fills the air that has nothing to do with the fire. 

End

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted something set in the fall and this finally showed up. Late to the party, but I got there.  
Thanks for reading!


End file.
